Not trolling. Also don't want to be political. And I also don't want you to be diplomatic, that's why I'm posting this here, instead of sending a PM or sending this up into the suggestion box website-side.

If you have good reasons for doing the things you do then I'm sure there's more people than me interested in hearing why, and if you don't, then it might incite discussion. But before it can blow up into a big ole argument overnight before an Admin can even get a word in edgewise, I'm posting it here instead, to set the pace of the conversation, since players can't reply on this sub-board.

Why is the official staff stance giving gear to RPP races, period, other than what any 0 RPP character can get? Why is that gear non-craftable to everyone else already IG? Is that gear essentially worse than what a highly skilled crafter can produce, or better?

Why is the G-quality gear that as far as I know, doesn't have crafts made for them as of yet, entered circulation, un-monitored?

I've got word down the grapevine (yes, I apologize for having a grapevine, I am a horrible monster) about Dwarves being delayed in terms of implementation due to their own special gear pre-commencement not being ready yet. Why is that even a thing? What justifies that, in any way? Why does that sound so familiar to the failings of an establishment that pre-dates this one, one that I personally argued against, incensed enough to make sure that things would remain balanced and fair, avoiding the need for this discussion to take place?

This isn't a "CONCEDE TO MY DEMANDS MORTALS" post, it's kind of more a vaguely disappointed query that I hope doesn't fall on deaf ears. You could do nothing about it and I wouldn't really make a big deal out of it, but if you asked me not to say that it doesn't sound an awful like Old SoI, I would be lying and I am not a dirty liar.

With bated breath, #1 Super Fan,

WorkerDrone

I hope you die right now, will you drink my chemical?

Brian wrote:See, the thing that I admire about WorkerDrone is that he's an optimist!

Firstly, gear is flavor. We like to add it in with new races. Both dwarves and elves will no doubt have some. High rpphumams will as well, no doubt. That said, it is not designed to be ABSOLUTELY better than what can be crafted IG. I can speak with authority that the elven gear, for example, will be balanced to be worse than specific craftable stuff.

Some gqual gear is entering the game. It is being monitored though, and it has the direct attention of both myself and Grommit for balancing and adjustment. We balanced stuff up to oquality about 6 months back, and now we are balancing the higher end. It's a process though because of how complicated our code is. I can speak again with authority that myself and Grommit are conducting a comprehensive audit on EVERY ond of the 108 armor items IG to ensure both consistency and fairness. We started this after observing the results of combat that involved high end equipment; we want to make sure nothing is wonky. Heck, we are even building a ruby-based utility to help us do it!

So, trust me that it is the desire of staff that gear be balanced. We are actively working hard on that front.

I never don't give political answers, it's simply who I am. But just because something is political doesn't mean it isn't honest, it's more about the tone than the truth. So, here's some thoughts:

- It goes much better for player to staff communication when one comes to it from the perspective that the other party does indeed have a reason for what they do until proven otherwise.

One might not agree with the reasoning for all decisions, or the reasoning might not be always inherently obvious, but our staff is indeed a collective group of thoughtful, intelligent people who care about this game and our community. At times, some decisions are simply what seems the best option at any given time with the factors at hand at that time.

So, when one makes a statement like "if you have a good reason for doing X" it starts the discussion from a perspective of putting someone on the defensive, just as a communication thought.

- Why is the official staff stance giving gear to RPP races, period, other than what any 0 RPP character can get?

The same question could in turn be asked about skill boosts for RPP roles. Really, it comes down to presenting a realistic picture and enhancing roleplay.

If you want to make a background of an experienced warrior and yet your weapon skills are dreadfully awful - that presents the picture to others that your PC is ... a liar? Mental? Laughable? If your sick Beta warg is weak and easily pummeled in battle and gets himself placed at the bottom of the pack, does that follow logic? If your Hobbit merchant rolls into town with noob gear and holes in his shoes does that follow?

A 0 RPP character is, if you like to imagine someone whose life, no matter how interesting it has been or how interesting it might be in the future has ended in them having a rather average outcome in life. They enter this life with the clothes on their back, a dream in their head, and a few coins in their pocket to make their way in this world.

A 1 or 2 RPP character who chooses one of the standard lower RPP roles or races is someone whose experience has granted them a bit more depth - they are literate in a world where education isn't free and a given, they have enhanced military or crafting experience - they step out slightly ahead. But, ultimately the 0 RPP character who started next to them may very well surpass them given time, dedication, and the right choices.

You can accomplish amazing things with a 0 RPP PC - even get to the top 50 in play time (I got top 20 from back in the day )

Gear is then given for flavor and to enhance the roleplay and image of that character as a representative of their race. Wargs are an RPP race that doesn't get gear, because well ... that lack of thumbs issue. Instead their "gear" is handled by coded bonuses and settings from their race.

Why is that gear non-craftable to everyone else already IG? Is that gear essentially worse than what a highly skilled crafter can produce, or better?

Well, some of these things might be racially restricted even when they are craftable, so them being craftable doesn't mean everyone would know or branch how to make them.

Edited to clarify: We are definitely looking to balance things so that what general PCs can craft is equivalent or equal in terms of battle-worthiness, but you will still likely have different crafts/object vnums produced for racial style/appearance differences.

But the basic answer is - with the rather lean numbers of staff we have been running on of late, designing entire craft suites for those items when thus far we have had singleton members of various RPP races didn't seem the best use of staff time versus crafts that would useful for a wider number of players (like ... bacon. )

Weapons and armor as Icarus notes have some issues right now that are being looked into and changes and balancing will no doubt be forthcoming.

If you'd like to question about specific Elven racial armor currently in game and it's problems, I'll step forward to take responsibility for that. I am not a coder, and my familiarity with weapon, armor, and combat code is likely scant compared to the rest of Elder Staff, it's not my specialty. I designed things based on my best understanding, and with issues being pointed out, they are going to be addressed and items will be balanced. I'm far better at making armor beautiful than neccessarily the best setting choices. But we now have Grommit and Icarus active (or active again) to help with such things.

So, sorry is the best thing I can offer there.

Why is the G-quality gear that as far as I know, doesn't have crafts made for them as of yet, entered circulation, un-monitored?

Again, sorry for the part I played in any of that. It wasn't that it was unmonitored, more that it wasn't monitored by someone best suited for that job.

I've got word down the grapevine (yes, I apologize for having a grapevine, I am a horrible monster) about Dwarves being delayed in terms of implementation due to their own special gear pre-commencement not being ready yet.

I cannot to my recollection remember anyone asking me personally or remember seeing a support ticket opened about someone inquiring after a potential Dwarf PC. So I'm not sure about the source of this thought, unless I really am getting old.

If someone wants to write up a Dwarf application and help make some flavor items for Dwarves, I'd welcome it. Thus far, racial items have generally been a brain child between the first applicant for the race and myself. So - if there's something you'd like to see - send in a ticket of interest.

Why is that even a thing? What justifies that, in any way? Why does that sound so familiar to the failings of an establishment that pre-dates this one, one that I personally argued against, incensed enough to make sure that things would remain balanced and fair, avoiding the need for this discussion to take place?

As I'm not sure on the source of this grapevine, I'm not certain what to justify. As for what does or doesn't sound familiar to things other people did or didn't do, I'm not sure on that either. I have apologized for my part in some mistakes in regards to gear.

If the idea was that we would never have RPP roles or races that would come with boosts or gear, I'm not sure that was ever really a promise implied or made. If that was the case, arguably we'd only have two races - Orc and Human, and allow no roles at all people would just need to figure something out IG.

But we are looking to have a wider tapestry than that, so the question we are working out now is which colors to utilize and how long the strings will be.